Aaron Jones.Photo: Northwestern Mutual
On the longest run of his career, a 77-yard touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles last season, Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones felt like he had Ethan Haley with him.
Several weeks later, Ethan died. When Jones heard the news, he cried.
“It really hit me,” Jones, 26, tells PEOPLE. “These are kids who sometimes don’t even make it to 21, who have such a future ahead of them. Then something they have no control of gets in their body and takes over.”
Ethan Haley.Northwestern Mutual
According to the CDC, approximately 15,000 people under the age of 20 are diagnosed with cancer each year, or about 43 a day. According to theNational Children’s Cancer Society, the average cost of treating childhood cancer is $833,000.
This year, Jones is again accepting cleat-design entries from pediatric cancer patients for a Dec. 12 game against the Chicago Bears. The volume of amazing entries has bowled him over — “so many good ones, it’s hard to narrow it down” — and so has the bravery and positive attitude of the young people he has met through his advocacy.
“It’s taught me that every moment you have, never look at it in a negative light. Enjoy every moment,” he says.
Joining Jones on the initiative is former Packers wide receiver andDancing with the StarschampionDonald Driver, a four-time Pro Bowler who won a Super Bowl with the team in 2010. Jones and Driver teamed up to host Northwestern Mutual’s Ultimate Mini-Camp, a virtual event that united families with a loved one battling with childhood cancer during which Jones gave a virtual tour of Lambeau Field, the Packers' historic stadium.
“It gives these families the opportunity to just relax for a day and not have to worry about the pain, the suffering that they see their child go through every day,” Driver tells PEOPLE.
“The opportunity for the parents to sit back and watch their kids have a smile on their face: Words can’t express how that makes you feel,” he says.
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Driver is no stranger to cancer: His father, Marvin Driver Jr., died of lung cancer. His best friend, Bryant Pretlow, who introduced him to his wife and became the godfather to his children, suffered from non-Hodgkins lymphoma and died in his arms. His mother had breast cancer but survived; recently she just cleared three years of being cancer-free.
Donald Driver.Northwestern Mutual
Cancer, says Driver, “never hits home until you’re actually faced with it. And I’ve been faced with it for many, many years.”
The death of a family member is something Jones can identify with: In April, he lost his father, Alvin Jones, to Covid-19 complications. On the field, he carries his father’s ashes in a specially-designed pocket cut into his jersey.
And on Dec. 12, with his new cleats, he says it will be like “taking someone else out there with you” — just like he did with Ethan.
Ethan and the other children he has worked with inspire him to keep striving, on and off the field.
“Eventually,” he says of cancer, “they have to be able to find a cure for it.”
source: people.com
